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The Essential Phone is effectively discontinued
An already rough year for smartphone startup Essential appears to be ending on a sour note. Droid Life spotted that the company's flagship Essential Phone, also known as the PH-1, is out of stock and won't be coming back. The company has confirmed the handset won't be restocked, effectively discontinuing the device. Essential says it will instead focus its energy on its next product.
Essential will restore your headphone jack for $149
Did you say you would pay anything to put a headphone jack on a phone where it was painfully absent? Essential wants you to prove it. The startup has released its long-discussed magnetic headphone jack adapter (now called the Audio Adapter HD) for a staggering $149 -- nearly a third the cost of the Essential Phone at its standard price. It's more than just a plug, of course. There's a built-in ESS Sabre DAC and an "audiophile-grade" amp that, together, promise 24-bit/96kHz audio for your high-end headphones. Still, you have to be very, very committed to pristine sound to spend this much on a new accessory instead of making do with the included USB-C dongle.
Android creator wants Essential's new phone to text and email for you
Essential Products, Inc., had a lot of promise as an electronics startup run by Andy Rubin, the creator of Android, but the company has floundered a bit in practice. Now, according to Bloomberg, Essential is putting aside all of its projects to focus on a phone that will double as an assistant: It will learn your behavior and be able to respond to messages for you.
Essential's second smartphone module adds a headphone jack
Despite rumors it's up for sale, Essential is still operating as if everything is just fine. After releasing a new beta for Android P, the company has just launched its second modular accessory. The Audio Adapter HD packs a pre-amp and an ESS Sabre DAC that can handle high-resolution MQA (master quality audio) used by Tidal and other services. More importantly for most Essential PH-1 smartphone owners, it has a 3.5mm headphone jack, so they can soon dust off their favorite cans or earbuds.
Essential Phone is available in more countries, including UK and Japan
Essential announced today that it will open up its online store to more countries. Now along with US residents, those living in Canada, France, Japan, the UK and Germany can buy Essential's products through its online shop. The Financial Times reported last July that Essential was in talks with British carriers and that the UK would be getting access to its first phone before the end of the year, but it didn't happen. Canada's Telus carrier has offered the Essential phone for a little while now, but only in limited color options, while Amazon started selling it in Canada earlier this month.
Android Oreo 8.1 is finally available for Essential Phones
Andy Rubin's Essential Phone appeared midway through last year, poised to take on the Samsung-Apple hegemony with a sleek, rugged design. The company skipped updating its phones to Android's Oreo 8.0 release, and rather opted to wait for Oreo 8.1. Today is that day, then, with the company announcing the update is available for Essential phones immediately.
IDC: Essential shipped less than 90,000 phones in 2017
Andy Rubin's Essential Phone found its way into our best-of lists this holiday season and had a couple of great price drops, including a $399 Cyber Monday deal. Still, the phone doesn't seem to be doing very well. According to a tweet from IDC research director Francisco Jeronimo, the phone sold less than 90,000 units in the first six months after it launched.
Android P might support 'notched' displays
It sounds like Google is taking inspiration from the iPhone X display's notch for the next version of Android. The idea is for Android Pistachio Ice Cream (the software version's internal name, according to Bloomberg) is to win potential iPhone customers over by offering a similar look to its OS. While some like Samsung have outright mocked the cut-out, other manufacturers like Essential (above) have embraced it. This move makes it sound like Google expects more of the latter than the former, which means you can likely expect to find more phones with all manner of sensors tucked into the space in the future. Chinese OEM Huawei is rumored to join the notched-display party as well.
Essential Phone skips Android Oreo 8.0 due to stability issues
Android phonemaker Essential is skipping over Android Oreo 8.0 despite running a beta program for the platform these past two months. Apparently, it discovered several stability issues in 8.0 during testing, which it believes will be addressed by 8.1. So, instead of rolling out 8.0 to the public, the company has decided to "focus [its] energy" on its successor. The downside is that it will push back Oreo's release to the Andy Rubin-designed Essential phones a few weeks, but those who can't wait that long can always sign up for 8.1's beta release.
Essential is working to fix its sluggish touchscreens
The Essential Phone launched last August, but five months later, there are still some issues with the phone that remain unfixed. One of those is the lagging touch latency. If you have a PH-1, though, know that Essential hasn't forgotten about the problem and it's not just brushing it aside. As 9to5Google reports, during a recent Reddit AMA, Essential engineers said that they have dedicated resources specifically aimed at improving touch latency. "There are trade offs we are testing internally and our goal is to provide something in the 8.1 release we just need to make sure by fixing the jitter issue that we are not creating another problem," they said. "Sorry this is taking so long, we just want to get it right given how vocal our audience is."
Essential Phone sends 360-degree live video to Facebook and YouTube
Essential has been racing to improve the (frankly lackluster) camera software on its phone ever since launch, and now those upgrades are showering affection on the handset's signature 360 Camera attachment. Andy Rubin's outfit is delivering an update that adds streaming live 360-degree video to both Facebook Live and YouTube Live. In other words, that add-on just became much more useful -- you can broadcast your adventures in a VR-friendly format just by clipping a camera to your phone.
Essential Phone joins the portrait mode photo party
The Essential Phone's camera was one of its bigger weak spots at launch. A few months (and a handful of updates) later and things have gotten better. The latest patch adds a portrait mode along with an exposure compensation control. As Android Police notes, the patch also includes a tweak to the device's JPEG compression algorithm that'll hopefully boost image quality, along with the usual stability fixes.
Essential Phone drops to $399 for Cyber Monday
Another month, another Essential discount. In October, the company — spearheaded by Android creator Andy Rubin — slashed the price of its first phone to $499, and today it's been dropped to an even more tempting $399. That price-tag also nets you a 360-degree camera module — an accessory that normally adds another $180 to your bill. As The Verge notes, the deal is available exclusively on Amazon and is no doubt a Cyber Monday special. The usual drawbacks apply -- in short, the camera is a bit rubbish and there's no headphone jack -- but for the price you would be hard pushed to find a device that looks as good. The OnePlus 5T, for instance, costs $499 and the Google LG-made Pixel 2 starts at $649.
The best phones under $500
Phone makers are trying to outdo one another by racing to add new, advanced features to their flagships, but these tools are not equally useful. Who really needs Face ID, Animoji or eye-sensing authentication? Some of us just want a good, no-frills phone. Plus, not everyone can or wants to spend almost a thousand dollars on something we'll trade in after two years. For these people, there's a range of options from truly basic sub-$250 phones to more powerful mid-range devices that can be had for less than $500. The latter group is better described as aggressively priced flagships that can serve you almost as well as their costlier counterparts -- and there's now a decent selection to consider.
Essential cuts the price of its phone to $499
It's no secret that the Essential Phone isn't a hot seller. Whether or not you believe the sales estimates, it's difficult to move large volumes of a $699 phone with limited carrier deals (in the US, only Sprint) and no brand recognition outside of smartphone enthusiasts. And Essential knows it -- Andy Rubin's outfit has dropped the price of the phone to $499 several weeks after its late August launch. If you're an early adopter who already has an Essential Phone, you'll get a $200 "friends and family" code that you can use at the official store to buy a 360-degree camera or get credit toward another phone.
Lawsuit claims Essential stole modular accessory tech
Andy Rubin's Essential Products is facing more legal troubles. The ex-Android chief's company previously found itself in hot water with smartphone accessory maker Spigen over its use of the "Essential" name. Now -- less than two months since the release of the Essential Phone -- it's getting sued for allegedly stealing trade secrets relating to its modular connector, reports Reuters. Keyssa, the company behind the lawsuit, is best known for developing a wireless standard that lets you make gigabit-sized transfers in seconds. Its backers include Nest co-founder Tony Fadell, Samsung, and Playground Global (the venture fund Rubin heads).
Essential Phone goes on sale in Sprint stores September 14th
Sprint stores opened up preorders for the Essential PH-1 last month. Given it's the exclusive carrier for the smartphone, Sprint is the only choice for those opting for contract deals instead of paying full price for an unlocked device. If you didn't buy early, don't worry: You can purchase the PH-1 from the carrier at its stores, online or by phone tomorrow.
Don't even try to repair the Essential Phone
The Essential PH-1 (aka Essential Phone) is designed to withstand dents and scratches, but what happens if something breaks on the inside? You can forget about fixing it yourself, apparently. The DIY repair crew at iFixit has torn down Essential's handset, and it's obvious that you're not meant to poke around inside. For one thing, iFixit had to freeze the phone (and break the LCD) just to get inside -- and even then, it still had to get past a mid-frame shield. The USB-C port is soldered on to motherboard, and the abundance of adhesives makes it likely that you'll break something if you somehow didn't wreck the screen going in.
Essential customers hit with deceptive phishing emails
Some customers who pre-ordered the Essential phone have reported getting suspicious emails asking for "additional verifying information." Based on the copy someone posted on Reddit, the email is asking for a photo ID clearly showing your picture, signature and current billing address. The email was sent by an @essential address and looks pretty legit. But since the company says it's investigating the situation and has "taken steps to mitigate" the issue, then it's best to assume that it's a phishing scheme, a scam of some sort or just anything you should not reply to with any identifying info.
Essential PH-1 review: A beautiful blank slate
Andy Rubin was disillusioned. He helped build the Android operating system. He watched as Google acquired the company, and he steered development on the mobile OS for years after that. And somewhere along the way, he grew a little weary of how the smartphone market worked. To hear him tell it, the mobile industry prioritized iteration over innovation, to the point where it centered itself around only two companies: Apple and Samsung. Convinced that Apple's premium phone business model would work for a startup, Rubin set about building his own phone, and here we are. That startup, Essential, offers its new PH-1 as a remedy to the industry's ills. It's a premium smartphone with an impeccable pedigree that embodies progress and choice and openness. That was the idea, anyway. Here's the thing about lofty goals though: You're almost never going to achieve them in one shot. And really, that's the Essential PH-1 in a nutshell. It's an exceptionally crafted device and a stunning first effort from a company that didn't exist 18 months ago. While the PH-1 stands as a testament to Rubin's vision, a few shortcomings keep it from being as truly great as promised.
